


Couch-Shopping 2: Electric Boogaloo

by Hylla_Tavorian_Aldan



Series: Devildom Domesticity [3]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abandonment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentioned Lilith, Minor Original Character(s), Moving In Together, Moving Out, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, a lot of them are mostly mentioned, fake movie titles, it's involuntary I swear, no one's deliberately abandoning any children here, really dumb fake movie titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25856398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hylla_Tavorian_Aldan/pseuds/Hylla_Tavorian_Aldan
Summary: A direct sequel to "The Terror of Couch-Shopping".Beel and Michael have finally settled on a couch and moved in together. But it's all fun and games until one of them gets PTSD-induced nightmares, the other finally reveals some of his backstory, and maybe Diavolo should've thought the exchange program through a bit longer.
Relationships: Beelzebub (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Beelzebub (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Male Character(s), Beelzebub/Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)
Series: Devildom Domesticity [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840885
Kudos: 16





	Couch-Shopping 2: Electric Boogaloo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EmmAquamarine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmAquamarine/gifts).



> I _guess _this can be read as a standalone fic?? It mostly has minor references to the first fic at the beginning, but after that it's totally new territory. Either way, have at it! XD__

“Are you _sure_ you want this couch?” Michael asked, still sounding somewhat skeptical as he and Beel stood in front of a familiar sofa covered in a red sofa cover with white polka dots.

“I’m sure,” he confirmed, giving Michael an earnest smile. “Belphie will find somewhere to sleep. He always does.”

That had been a year ago. Michael and Beel had long since purchased more furniture they could both agree on more easily (or moved old furniture from their bedrooms to the apartment) and moved out of the House of Lamentation. With both of them working regular jobs (in addition to Belphie’s occasional assistance), they were able to pay the bills and make their way in the Devildom.

To celebrate finally being able to live in a fully furnished apartment, they invited the other six brothers to visit. As they walked around the apartment, peeking into each room and opening and closing random doors, they each offered their varying opinions on Michael and Beel moving out.

“I’m proud of the two of you for taking the initiative,” Lucifer said with a cool smile, gazing around the apartment with a critical eye.

“I can’t believe you moved out without me, Michael!” Mammon complained. “C’mon, lemme move in with you guys! I’ll even pull my own weight—”

“Leave them be, Mammon,” Satan chastised him, gently smacking him on the arm and leaving the Avatar of Greed to sulk on the couch.

“ _Finally_ , we won’t have to deal with Beel eating everything in the fridge!” Levi groaned, having been literally dragged out of the house by Lucifer to come and see Michael and Beel’s apartment.

“But that means I won’t be able to see Beel’s lovely physique anymore!” Asmo complained.

“Will we be able to visit?” Belphie asked, stifling a yawn behind his free hand as the other one held his pillow at his side. “I saw a guest room, does that mean we can sleepover?”

“Of course you guys can visit,” Beel reassured his twin. “We’re even gonna invite Simeon and the others to check out the apartment at some point.”

“I expect Diavolo and Barbatos will eventually pay you a visit, as well,” Lucifer remarked. “It’ll only be a matter of time until they find out, and Diavolo will become curious enough to see it for himself. I expect this place to look spotless when they do.”

“This is _our_ apartment, we can keep it as clean or messy as we want,” Michael muttered darkly under his breath.

“It will,” he quickly interceded, just as Lucifer’s expression began to darken. “Anyway, you guys will be late to dinner if you don’t start heading back—we don’t have enough food or room for eight people.”

“Have fun, you two!” Asmo told them, waving cheerfully as the others began filing out of the apartment, with Lucifer grabbing Mammon by the back of his collar and dragging him out the door behind him. “Don’t get up to anything naughty while we’re gone~”

“ _We won’t_ ,” Michael replied loudly, all but pushing Asmo out of the room and slamming the door shut, before sighing tiredly and leaning against the door. “Siblings are always a handful, aren’t they.”

“But you wouldn’t give them up for the world,” Beel said, a faintly amused smile crossing his face as he watched Michael push himself up from the door with a quiet, halfhearted scoff. “Anyway, what’s for dinner?”

And just like that, Michael’s expression lit up like a lightbulb. “It’s my specialty; I made it for my siblings back in the human world,” he explained, striding over to Beel and gently pushing him towards the couch. “Stay here; I want it to be a surprise.”

“Want me to pick a movie while you’re cooking?” he offered, rising from the couch to root through the box he’d put the movies in. “I grabbed a few things from the House of Lamentation, so I think we have a pretty decent selection.”

“What do we have?” Michael asked, retrieving various ingredients from the fridge and cabinets and pulling out several pieces of cookware and setting them aside for the time being.

“We have a few _Harrison Porter_ movies, _Screamin’ in the Pain_ , _The Human Wears Prada_ , _The Hound of Music_ , _THAT_ —”

“Wait, _THAT_?” Michael interrupted him, sounding noticeably incredulous as he continued cooking. “You mean that’s the actual title?”

“Yeah,” Beel confirmed. “You know, the movie about the demon clown named Nickelwise that hides in the sewers and eats kids?”

Michael was silent for a good minute or so. “…Do we have anything else?”

“Yeah, _Ghost of the Opera_ and _Die Hard_ ,” he said.

Another long pause. “…You mean that action movie with Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman?”

“Yeah, that one.”

Yet another pause followed as Michael mulled over this new piece of information. “…Let’s just watch _Harrison Porter_.”

“Which one?” Beel asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” he called back dryly. “Never really understood it, anyway.”

“How do you not understand it, the plot’s pretty easy to follow,” Beel pointed out, eventually settling on _Harrison Porter and the Convict of Azkaban_ , before inserting the disc into the DVD player and returning to the couch and starting the movie.

About halfway through the film, Michael walked up to Beel and wordlessly set down two plates in front of Beel and the spot next to him, before making two more trips to the kitchen to retrieve a bowl of tomato soup for each of them.

Beel paused the movie and stared down at the food in front of him, waiting until Michael sat down on the couch before turning to him and saying, “This is tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.”

“What about it?” Michael asked with a raised brow. “I thought you were okay with eating pretty much anything.”

“No, I am,” he said. “It’s just that you said you were making your specialty, so I was expecting something…fancier, I guess.”

“Hey, I’ve spent _years_ perfecting this dish,” he retorted. “Try it for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“Alright, I will,” Beel said, before lifting up the sandwich and promptly taking a massive bite out of it. And as soon as the grilled cheese hit his tongue, he felt himself jerk backward, and almost instantly, he felt his eyes well up with tears of pure joy.

“This is the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my entire life,” he mumbled through a mouthful of grilled cheese, swallowing it as tears finally began running down his cheeks. “This makes every other sandwich I’ve had taste like _dirt_ by comparison.”

Michael couldn’t stop the smug grin from spreading across his face. “Don’t go singing my praises just yet; you still haven’t tried the soup.”

Beel was quick to set down the grilled cheese in favor of picking up the spoon resting against the side of the bowl, taking a spoonful of the tomato soup and putting it into his mouth. And as the soup ran down his throat, filling his chest with warmth, Beel remained frozen on the couch, his empty spoon resting limply in his hand as his brain struggled to catch up with the rest of his senses.

Somehow, the soup was just as incredible as the grilled cheese. He didn’t think he could ever eat another bowl of soup without comparing it to Michael’s for as long as he lived.

“I…I don’t understand,” he finally managed to say, causing Michael’s grin to widen further as he took in Beel’s dumbfounded expression. “It’s just a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup—how does it taste so good?!”

“I told you, it’s my specialty,” Michael replied simply, picking up the remote and starting the movie back up before tucking into his food. “Oh, and don’t eat it too fast, you don’t wanna burn your tongue.”

Beel complied (however reluctantly), and even as he continued eating, Michael could still see tears running down the demon’s cheeks, and they didn’t stop until he’d finished eating.

Once they were both finished eating, Michael cleared the dishes and took them to the sink to be washed, asking Beel to start up another _Harrison Porter_ movie if the one they were currently watching finished while he was still in the kitchen. Then, some minutes later, Michael returned to the couch with a few Jane Austen books in hand, making himself comfortable and setting down his small selection of books on the coffee table.

A few minutes after Michael had begun reading _The Beautifull Cassandra_ , he suddenly felt Beel rest his head upon his shoulder. He stiffened for a split second upon contact, but slowly, surely, he let his shoulders relax, and he let the movie fade into background noise as he turned another page in his book.

No one needed to know.

By the time the credits were rolling on the third movie, they had ended up watching, Michael and Beel had both fallen asleep, _The Beautiful Cassandra_ laying open and forgotten in Michael’s lap, with Beel’s head still resting on his shoulder.

It was peaceful, it was quiet, and nothing could disturb them.

However, as the night went on, Beel’s brow furrowed, his jaw tightened, and his body turned rigid against Michael as his previously serene demeanor gradually melted away. Then, it finally came to a head when Beel shot up on the couch, letting out a ragged scream as his eyes flew open, causing Michael to startle himself awake as he nearly fell off the couch.

“Eurgh…Beel? What happened?” he asked, his voice still thick with sleep as he rubbed his eyes and sat up on the couch.

“Nothing, just…just a nightmare,” Beel tried reassuring him, though the clear shakiness in his voice, and the fact that he looked like Mammon after watching a horror movie visibly dampened the effect.

Michael remained quiet for a moment, now looking more awake as a flicker of uncertainty crossed his face. “…Do you wanna talk about it?” he offered hesitantly.

Beel took a trembling breath, nodding slightly as Michael waited patiently for the demon to recompose himself.

“I…it was a nightmare about the Great Celestial War,” he murmured. “About Lilith. And the moment I was forced to choose between saving her and Belphie. I…I watched her fall and I—I let her _die_ , Michael! I know I was only able to pick one in the end, but…she died because of _me_!”

This time, Michael remained silent for a long, long time. The only reason Beel didn’t say anything was that he noticed the thoughtfulness and hesitation in the former’s knitted brow and clenched jaw.

Finally, Michael seemed to get over whatever uncertainties he had as he appeared to steal himself, looking Beel in the eye as he quietly asked, “Have I told you about my little sister yet?”

Beel blinked. “No? What about her?”

Michael clenched his jaw once more, as though his next words would cause him physical pain if he said them. “I…I have a baby sister. Her name’s Dorothy, but more often than not, I usually call her…” his gaze flickered briefly, longingly, to the white polka dots scattered across the red sofa cover, “…my little polka Dot.”

_Oh._

Beel’s gaze also moved momentarily to the couch as another piece of the puzzle that was Michael clicked into place. Before he could overthink it, however, the human in question inhaled and exhaled slowly, remaining silent for just a moment before speaking again.

“There were a few complications as she was being born, so she’s pretty sickly,” he murmured. “I do my best to keep her healthy, but there was one time where I…didn’t try as hard. One day, she was even sicker than normal, so I was supposed to be watching her. And I…wasn’t. She tried to climb a tree while I wasn’t looking, but she got a dizzy spell and lost her grip. I was able to catch her in time, but some branches fell, and one of them nicked me—” he paused to tap his finger to the thin scar just below his left eye, “—right here.

“But…the reason I’m telling you all this is because…” Michael swallowed thickly. “…I know how it feels. To feel like you didn’t do everything you could to save someone you care about. It sucks and it makes you feel like shit, but…all you can do is try to do better in the future.”

Beel remained quiet for a moment as more puzzle pieces slotted themselves neatly into place. So that was why Michael had reacted so violently upon appearing in the Devildom, why he’d been so adamant on returning to the human world when he found out about the exchange program. He’d been forced to leave his _family_ behind.

…Had Diavolo and Lucifer taken that into account? That whoever they chose as part of the exchange program could potentially have friends or family they’d be forced to leave behind for an entire _year_ —and entirely without warning? He couldn’t imagine what he would’ve done in Michael’s position—if he’d been unwittingly swept away to another realm, and forced to leave his own family behind without explanation, for an _entire year_.

“…How did—how do you deal with it?” Beel asked quietly. “Being away from your family for this long?”

“Denial, mostly,” he replied, attempting a casual laugh in an attempt to play it off, but it instead came out sounding incredibly weak and forced. “Being angry all the time. Binge-cooking. Especially that last one.

Despite himself, Michael let a small smile cross his face. “But I don't mind cooking for all of you, even with how much I didn't want to be here. It helped me feel closer to my friends and family back home and made my time in the Devildom less…” he cringed slightly before finishing his sentence, “… _hellish_.”

Beel snorted loudly, a smile making its way across his face before he can stop it. It eventually softened, however, as he turned to face Michael properly. “Thanks for telling me, by the way. It means a lot to me.”

“It’s nothing, really,” Michael reassured him with a small, awkward smile. “Anyone else would’ve done the same thing.”

“Maybe, but you’re not ‘anyone else’,” he pointed out. “You’re _you_ , and you mean a lot to me.”

Michael blinked, and he quickly averted his gaze as his cheeks turned red and he lifted a hand to cover his mouth. “Yeah, well…you mean a lot to me, too,” he mumbled, his voice muffled into his palm. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he said, before moving to rest his head on Michael’s shoulder once more. “Now come on, we need to get some sleep. We have work and school tomorrow.”

“I know, I know,” he groaned, lowering his hand to make himself comfortable next to Beel as his eyes fell shut. “G’night, Beel.”

Another soft smile crossed the demon’s face, and he made it a point to curl up a bit closer to Michael as he closed his eyes, as well.

“Good night, Michael.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
